DIRECTOR 
Sergey Loznitsa
A Gentle Creature, Donbass, State Funeral

STARS
Alexander Kuznetsov, Aleksandr Filippenko and Vytautas Kaniusonis

Two Prosecutors, spoken in Russian and Ukrainian, is a true story taking place during the height of Joseph Stalin’s terror, the Great Purge in USSR 1937.

Officials working at a prison instruct one of the inmates to burn a pile of letters written by prisoners who have been falsely accused of various crimes by the regime. However, one of them written in blood makes its way out and into the hands of a new and young local prosecutor, Kornyev (Alexander Kuznetsov). The letter, whose author claims to possess vital information and requests a cell visit, miraculously sees his request come to fruition when Kornyev arrives at the prison and insists on speaking with the prisoner, Stepnyak (Aleksandr Filippenko), in private. Kornyev’s conversation with Stepnyak immediately compels him to escalate the matter, but who can he trust and at what cost might this come?

This bleak drama possesses the capability to completely captivate, but I am concerned it simply won’t courtesy of its production and curtailing of critical details.

To the latter comment above firstly, Two Prosecutors does not explain what the Great Purge was, nor does it detail anything about the formation, objectives and true operations of the NKVD. This knowledge is vital to have prior to seeing the film to truly comprehend the inner workings of all proceedings and to be on the same page as the characters throughout their various discourses. This was not the case for me. While I possessed some basic knowledge and was attuned to the ominous signs and tones, the true significance of its detail could only be realised later. But even for those who do arrive well equipped with necessary knowledge, I’m afraid this films production might act as movie melatonin.

Perhaps the purpose of the static camerawork is to capture the stillness of time in the gloominess of atmosphere present all throughout, but even scenes set outside of the undoubtedly dull and awful prison walls, are shot this way. This execution, together with zero music score and a story that is just too slow to progress or just too lengthy at almost 2 hours, rarely vary the film’s tone throughout and often make it utterly boring to watch. While not exactly earning it a pass mark, Two Prosecutors’ only redeemable qualities are two or three of those aforementioned lengthy character discourses, which can be quite enthralling, and Kornyev’s brave and admirable sense and pursuit of justice, making him quite an anchoring presence.

Two Prosecutors is showing in selected cinemas across Australia from November 13th, 2025.

Moviedoc thanks Sharmill Films for providing a screener link to watch and review this film. 

Review by Leigh for Moviedoc

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